The new boy
by twigirl28
Summary: Edward Cullen has just moved to the small town of Barnwell South Carolina with his parents. Bella Swan has a major crush on him and lucky for her, he's moved right next door.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi everyone, this is my new story. It's different than what I've wrote before so I hope everyone likes it. Let me know what you think.**

**Love my beta -K.**

Chapter 1

August 2nd

"Emmy honey, are you still going to fix my porch swing today?" I heard my mom, Rene, ask from the kitchen. I wasn't really paying attention to her conversation with my brother; I was staring out the window at the new boy that just moved in next door. He was washing his shiny silver Volvo and his shirt was off. I watched as his muscles bunched and flexed under his tan skin with each movement. His copper colored hair was standing in every direction and wet from the heat, giving him a disheveled and sexy look.

"Bells what are you looking at?" My dad, Charlie, asked from his place on the recliner.

"Nothing," I lied. He looked to be about my age and he was just too beautiful for me to not look.

"Ha! Bella's drooling over the new neighbor!" Emmett shouted as he leaned over my shoulder to look out the window. I panicked, wondering if the new boy heard Emmett, quickly backing away from the window and sitting down on the couch.

"I was not," I lied, my cheeks hot with embarassment.

"Isabella Marie Swan, what have I told you about that nose of yours? One day someone's going to chop it off." My mom tsked at me. I'd heard this saying all of my seventeen years; I wasn't nosy though, just curious. Nothing ever happened in this tiny town, what did they expect? We lived in Barnwell, South Carolina, with a population of 3,000. It's the sort of place where nobody ever moves to and, even though everyone swears they'll move just as soon as they graduate High School, nobody ever leaves.

"Have y'all met them yet," my brother asked. Emmett was a prime example, swearing since we were kids that he'd blow this place the second he got that diploma. Four years later he and his fiancée, Rosalie, just bought a house; he's never leaving either.

"Your father talked to them when they first moved in. He offered help, didn't you honey?" Mom asked.

"Yep, looked like they had some pretty heavy stuff and them movers looked puny; nice people though, said they moved here from Texas."

That explains his tan. "What's their name," I asked before I could think, earning a knowing grin from my brother; I rolled my eyes and waited for a response.

"Uhh, I think they said Cullen," Dad answered.

"Oh we should invite them to church tomorrow!" My mother said excitedly, wiping her hands on her apron thoughtfully. "I just bet they haven't had time to find one yet, poor things."

I was itching to get up and peek out the window again, see what the new boy was doing now, but I didn't want to get busted by my oaf of a brother. I stood up and walked out the front door to the porch, acting bored and restless. I could hear the water from the hose spraying and the sound of it hitting his car, but I didn't look over at him; I was too scared of getting caught. I leaned against the railing and looked out over the yard, trying to watch him out the corner of my eye.

After a few minutes I was growing impatient, I couldn't see him as well as I could from the window, and my head started turning in that direction. My eyes hurting from the strain, I was about to risk a glance when Emmett walked out.

"Damn, it's hot as hell out here," he complained and I nodded my head in agreement. It was a hot day; the forecast said it was supposed to get up to 110 and, with the humidity, it was bound to feel closer to 120. "Why does mom always pick the hottest days to ask me to fix **," he grumbled, not waiting for a response as he walked down the front porch steps and out to his truck.

The suspense was killing me and I couldn't take it anymore, I turned my head to sneak a peek. Green eyes met my brown stare and my heart dropped, pounding rapidly in my chest as he stared at me. I didn't know how to react, should I wave? No, I'd look stupid. I tried to play it cool, act like I wasn't look at him, even though we'd both obviously been caught staring at each other. I turned around, like I'd simply been heading for the swing, and headed to take a seat.

Everything happened so fast, I didn't have time to register it until it was too late. My ** touched the soft cushion of the swing and I heard Emmett yell out something from his truck, then I was falling. The swing fell with me and my vision jumbled as my head landed on the porch with an audible thump. When I opened my eyes I was flat on my back, my leg supported by the swing and sticking up in the air, I was looking up at the overhang.

Oh God, that did not just happen; please kill me now! Honestly, if a hole opened up in the earth at this exact moment I would gladly do a swan dive right into it. Did the new boy see? Please God tell me that he didn't witness my humiliation. I contemplate army crawling to the front door and avoiding his gaze when my mom and dad come bursting through the front door. "Oh Lord, are you okay sweetie," my mom asks and I nod.

"Oh God, that was the funniest thing I've ever seen! Bella, you should have seen your face." Emmett laughed as he came back up the porch steps. He then proceeded to demonstrate my fall and the facial expressions I'd made on my way down, causing my mortification to increase tenfold.

Dad reached down and pulled me up by my arms. "Just walk if off kid," he said, patting me on the shoulder. I'd never understood that saying really, how was walking around when you're hurt supposed to help anyone?

"I knew I should have gotten you to fix this swing sooner; Emmett stop laughing at your sister!" Mom said as she smacked his arm and turned to look at me, concerned. "Bella you need to get inside and cool off, your face is flushed."

I knew my face was red, I could feel the heat in it, but it wasn't due to the summer heat. I didn't want to tell her that I was embarrassed for being so clumsy in front of our new neighbor; I walked to the door, wanting to escape. I didn't want to look next door, too scared of what I'd see, but I had to know if he'd seen me fall.

My eyes slowly looked across the street and over to the place where he'd been standing. Yep, he'd seen it all. He was looking right at me, smiling the biggest smile I'd ever seen, and I would have sworn I saw his shoulders shaking with silent laughter. In that moment, I wanted to die.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So...here's chapter 2. I hope you like it. Let me know what you think.**

**Love my beta -K. She's freaking awesome. I'm sending hugs out to her :). **

Chapter 2

"Let us bow our heads and pray. Heavenly Father..." Pastor Howell began the last prayer of the service. I bowed my head along with all the other members, but I wasn't really listening; a sin I'm sure. Instead of praying I was writing a note out to my cousin, Alice Brandon. Alice and I were only months apart in age and, though she was my cousin, she's my best friend.

Alice and I passed notes back and forth during church service; we sat directly behind our family and, most of the time, they paid us no attention while the pastor was talking. Alice was obsessed with Jasper Whitlock, a boy our age that we'd known all of our lives; she'd had a crush on him for as long as I could remember. Jasper was on the football team this year, as he had been every year since 7th grade, and Alice was contemplating joining the cheerleading squad to be closer to him.

How is that going to help you talk to him?

"Amen," the Pastor said with a chorus of ahmens following close behind. Days of Elijah started playing from the speaker system while the choir stood up behind Pastor Howell and started singing. We stood to sing the final song of the day, most of us singing from memory as it was the same song they played every service. I slipped the note to Alice and looked forward, watching my grandma Swan poking at my sleeping grandpa.

"Robert! Wake up," she hissed and he opened his eyes, looking around and noticing that it was almost time to go. He stood up, a big smile on his face and started singing his heart out, acting as if he'd been whole heartedly wrapped up in the sermon. He acted as if the entire congregation didn't see him napping.

Alice nudged me and slipped the note into my hand, I discretely unfolded it. Talk later at lunch. I nodded in agreement and slipped the note into my pocket, Grandpa was already in trouble and I didn't want to join him so I looked towards the stage and kept singing.

After the song ended, everyone started filing out of the church and I waited for my parents to shuffle past, taking my place behind them. Angela Weber, a girl Alice and I knew from school, stopped us to chat for a second. Angela was a sweet girl; normally she was extremely shy, but today she was talking excitedly about how Ben Cheney had asked her out. I didn't join the conversation much, letting her and Alice talk as I scanned the church for my parents. Surely they wouldn't leave us, right?

I spotted my mother standing next to the last pew, talking happily as my father looked to be getting impatient. He whispered something in my mother's ear and she excused herself, following him out of the church. My breath caught as they moved out of the way and I saw that she'd been talking with our new neighbors. The boy from across the street must have felt my eyes on him because he turned to look at me and our eyes met. I froze, like a deer in the headlights, and didn't know what to do. Do I look away or keep looking and see what happens?

"Mom said his name is Edward Cullen," Alice whispered and I tore my eyes away from him to look at her. "His parents are Carlisle and Esme Cullen."

"How does she know?" I asked, trying to hide my confusion by acting unaffected by his presence. They were my neighbors and I didn't even know their names, how does Aunt Denise?

"Mom talked to them at the grocery store yesterday. He's cute" Alice added, giving me a knowing smile.

"He's alright," I lied, and we both knew it was a lie, that boy was gorgeous. Would it be wrong to jump him in church? I'm sure that was frowned upon but maybe God would understand. I glanced back over to where the Cullens had been, but they were gone. I quickly told Angela good bye, grabbing Alice's hand and leading her out of the church to find our parents.

We found them in front of the church, where my mother and Aunt were talking quietly. "Mom can we go please, it's hot," I complained and Alice agreed, though I think she was more anxious to talk to me than to get out of the heat.

"We have to wait honey; I want to give my condolences to Mrs. Stanley. Her daddy passed a few weeks ago," my mother said. She turned to my aunt and added, "You know he drank himself to death."

My aunt tsked and I rolled my eyes. "Well you can't blame him really, living with that wife of his, I would have drank too; bless their hearts."

Charlie walked over to us, putting his arm around my mother's waist. "You ready," he asked and Renee gave him the same excuse that she'd given me. Dad didn't accept it the way that I had to though; instead he began pulling her towards the car. "Renee, just send the woman a casserole; I'm ready to go." Alice gave me a quick wave and followed her parents to their car while I climbed into the back seat behind my mom. I rode to my grandparents' house in silence, dreaming about Edward while my parents chatted in the front seat.

"Grandma, I can't eat all that," Alice complained while our grandmother scooped heaps of mashed potatoes onto her plate.

"It's good for you Ali, you're so tiny. This will help you fill out dear," Grandma told her while placing another spoon full on her plate. Alice's plate was half covered with mashed potatoes when Grandma Swan stabbed a huge fried chicken breast and placed it on the plate, right next to the largest slice of cornbread in the pan.

"Good Lord Grandma! Half of this is going to waste; I just can't eat all that." Alice exclaimed, her eyes huge with emphasis as she looked at her plate.

"Well try, you don't eat enough to keep a bird alive. You've got to start eating," my grandmother scolded and I laughed under my breath. Alice gave me the evil eye behind my grandmother's back as she turned to me and offered me my own plate. "You don't need as much as our little Alice does. You've filled out just fine over the years, curves just where they belong. I must tell you Bella boo, your mother and I were worried for a little while, we didn't think you'd ever get boobs. Took you so long to develop, but look at you now!"

I smiled politely at her, not knowing how to respond to any of that, when I heard an unfamiliar chuckle behind me. I turned around only to find myself face to face with none other than Edward Cullen. He was standing with his parents, smirking at me.

I felt the heat rush to my face and the polite smile I'd assumed fell from my face. Oh no. No, no, no, no. Please Lord tell me he hadn't just heard everything my grandmother had said. I was mortified; I wished I could climb under a rock and hide.

"Oh, our guests are here. How are you? My name is Mary Swan." My grandmother introduced herself, rushing over to greet our company. My mother was standing next to them, oblivious to my embarrassment as she chatted with Mrs. Cullen.

Renee introduced the Cullens to everyone, pointing each of us out as she said our names. I still hadn't moved from my spot in the middle of the kitchen, still staring in mortification at Edward Cullen. When I realized how stupid I must look, just standing there holding my plate, I hurriedly went to the table and sat down beside Alice, who was sneaking food to our grandparents' cocker spaniel Kujo. Alice and grandpa had a bad habit of feeding the dog anything on their plates that they didn't want.

"Come sit down everyone. I've got plenty of food for y'all." My grandmother said as she ushered them to the table. I stopped breathing when Edward took the available seat on the other side of me. Did he want to sit next to me or was he just trying to get away from the grownups? I didn't know and, a part of me, didn't care. Though I was now self-conscience about him watching me eat.

"Oh he's such a cutie." Grandma said, placing a plate in front of Edward. He smiled politely at her, but the tops of his ears turned pink, the only indication that she'd embarrassed him. "Isn't he cute Bella boo? I swear if I was 20 years younger."

"Uhh...umm." How the hell was I supposed to answer that question? I turned back to my food and started eating, staring intently at my plate and hoping the conversation would end.

My grandfather started laughing from the head of the table. "Twenty years my ass, you mean forty years younger." He laughed.

"Dad haven't you learned, you're never supposed to reveal a woman's age," my dad teased. He was in a much better mood now that he had some food in his stomach.

"You have the sweetest little dog Mrs. Swan," Mrs. Cullen said in a soft, sweet soft voice. "Where ever did he get the name Kujo?"  
"Oh thank you. You know, Robert named him that. I guess he was hoping for a dog that would protect the house, but this fat thing loves everybody and every critter he comes across." Grandma said as she reached down and patted the top of his head affectionately. "Though I still don't understand why he's continuing to gain weight. The vet told us to stop feeding him people food and keep him on a strict diet, but it's just not working."

Grandpa and Alice shot each other knowing, guilty looks before smiling at one another. "Robert, you think he's sick?" Grandma asked, now worried about her precious dog.

"No dear, he's just happy. When you're happy you get fat," he said. He glanced over at Mr. Cullen and started a conversation about fishing and hunting.

Alice, Edward and I ate fast and in silence. I don't know if we all had the same idea, but I was ready to be excused from the table. Alice was still feeding the dog from the mountain of food on her plate.

"Oh, I work at the high school," I heard my mother say from across the table, catching my attention and causing me to listen more closely to her conversation. "Edward can ride with Bella, Alice and I." My mother offered.

"That's very kind of you to offer but Edward has his own car, he'll be driving himself." Mrs. Cullen said.

"See Charlie, I told you we should get Bella a car for her birthday," Renee commented.

"Renee, have you ever ridden with this child? She drives like she's on crack," he said and I blushed so hard that my eyes watered a little.

"Charlie! No talking about drugs at the table, especially on a Sunday!" Grandma scolded him.

"Mrs. Swan, I wouldn't mind if Bella wanted to ride with me," Edward spoke up from beside me. It was the first time I'd really heard him say anything, but I could listen to him talk all day. His voice was like honey, dripping with a very pronounced southern drawl. "Of course Alice is welcome too," he added as if it was an afterthought; or maybe that was just me hoping.

"Oh, can we?" Alice asked excitedly, looking back and forth between our mothers excitedly.

"I don't see why not, if you're sure it's not a problem?" Aunt Denise said.

"You got a clean driving record boy?" My father asked sternly and I inwardly cringed at his authoritative tone.

"I can assure you he's a very good driver," Mr. Cullen interjected reassuringly.

"Uhh, the only problem is, I might not be able to drive them home. I'm going to try out for the football team," Edward said and I saw Alice's face light up, this was not going to be good.

"That's perfect actually; Bella and I were just saying that we wanted to try out for the cheerleading squad this year. Since they practice at the same time, it would be perfect if you were able to give us a ride home afterwards so that Aunt Renee doesn't have to wait around for us." It took me a second to process her words, but when I did I nearly choked on the tea that I had been sipping. I had never said anything about signing up for cheerleading with her!

"Alice!" I whisper yelled; she gave the stink eye and then mouthed the word 'later' to me.

My mother clapped her hands together excitedly and I groaned. "Well then it's settled! Bella you can ride to school with Edward and now you won't be embarrassed having to ride to school with your mom. I still expect my morning kiss though," she added, as if she couldn't possible go one more moment without embarrassing me.

"Sure mom. Can I be excused now?" I asked and she nodded happily. I jumped up and took my plate to the sink before walking outside. A few minutes later, Alice came out. "How did you manage to get away with all that food you had?" I asked her, already knowing the answer.

"Most went to Kujo, I ate some. I really wish grandma wouldn't do that, I can't eat all that food." I hummed in agreement.

"So what the hell is this about me and you signing up for the squad?" I asked her, folding my arms and putting on my best bitch brow.

"Okay look, I know I shouldn't have sprung it on you like that but I just couldn't pass up the chance. I told you I wanted to try out so I could get closer to Jasper. The football team and the squad practice after school at the same times so I'd even get to be out on the field with him. It's my chance for him to really notice me."

"I get that, but what does it have to do with me?" I asked.

"Oh come on, I saw the way you looked at the new boy; I know your crushing on him. This would help you too," she insisted.

"First of all, I'm not crushing on him," I lied and she obviously didn't believe me. "Second, there's no guarantee that we'd even make the team." I said.

"Pshh. Are you for real? Of course we'll make it. Our school is tiny Bella, they're always begging girls to try out." Of course I knew that she was right, but I really didn't want to do this. I would make a fool out of myself and I feel like I'd already done that enough in front of Edward. "Please! Please Bella, do this for me," Alice begged.

I stared at her, fighting with myself. I did want to help Alice out, but I didn't want to look stupid. Then I thought about Edward and all the time I'd get to gawk at him and before I knew what I was doing, I replied. "Fine. I'll do it."

Alice squealed and threw her arms around my neck, effectively suffocating me. "Thank you! I promise you want regret it! This is going to be the best senior year ever!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Trash pile. Mom bought it so I can't throw it away pile. Damn, my closet was a disaster, I thought to myself as I tapped my finger against my lip in thought. I needed new clothes, which sucked because I hated shopping, but I loved having nice things though no one would know that by looking at my closet. These clothes were just awful; they would definitely would be going to good will.

I had just grabbed as many clothes from my closet as I could in my arms and turned around to throw them on my bed when Alice busted through my door breathing hard. "Oh my God!" She squealed, still huffing. "You're never going to believe what just happened to me." She walked, well it looked more like a limp, to my bed and sat down.

"Ali, what happened to your leg?" I asked her.

"Oh, I tripped over the leash of old man Roger's dog," she said, waving it off like it wasn't a big deal. "Bella, I was down at the corner gas station getting some lottery tickets for granddaddy and you'll never guess who I ran in to!" Alice's face is lit up like Christmas and she's obviously waiting on me to guess.

"Why are you buying lotto tickets for granddaddy?" I ask her.

"Damn it Bella, that's not the point here! And grandma won't let him buy them anymore, says he wastes too much money on them and she's worried he's going to get addicted or something like that, so I do it for him and he slips me a little extra cash. Now focus Isabella!" She's clearly becoming exasperated with me.

"Ok, fine. Who did you run into?" I ask her.

"Jasper! And we talked."

I can't stop laughing at how excited she is. "That's great Al." I say.

"I know right. It's wonderful. We actually had a conversation. Can you believe it?" She sighs dramatically and falls back on my bed.

"Soooo, what did he say?" I ask her.

"He was talking about a back to school party happening this weekend. He asked if I was going to be there and I told him that we would." Alice sits up and takes her first good look at the destruction of clothes around her. "Umm, Bells are you moving and forgot to tell me?"

"Haha. Wait! What did you mean by "we'' would be there?" I ask her.

"Ewww! Why do you have pleather pants?" She asks me with a disgusted look on her face, completely ignoring my question. Alice picks them up between her thumb and forefinger, holding them away from her like they contain some type of disease.

"My mom bought them for me; she thought they were in style. Now again, what do you mean by "we" are going to this party?"

Alice huffs in annoyance. "Bella, you know I can't go without you."

"Yes you can and I don't want to go." I say.

"Will you please stop whining and just go with me… Ohhh! You can invite neighbor boy." She says with a sly smile.

"Ha! I don't think so. I could barely eat around him much less go over to his house to invite him to a party." Though I had to admit the idea of Edward being at this party made it suddenly more appealing to me, I still wasn't interested. "Whose party is it?"

"Uhh, I don't know, all he said was that it was going to be at the honey hole." The Honey Hole was a large piece of land that consisted of nothing but an orange clay type of dirt. It was mostly surrounded by trees, except for a small opening to get in. The center was nothing but one huge mud hole that country boys went through with their 4x4 trucks and four wheelers. Sometimes bets were made on who could get through the mud, but most of the time it was all in good fun. As far as I knew, nobody was sure who actually owned the land. There was an old man that lived down the road and when some of the guys would get too stuck to get out the mud he would come down with his tractor and pull them out. Although a lot of teenagers, and even some questionable adults, went out there to go mudding, it was really a place where you could party without worrying about the cops or parents.

"You think he'd go?" I asked her.

"Umm, yeah he would." She said looking at me like I was an idiot. "Did you not see how that boy looked at you at grandma's house? He was eyeing you the whole time. Besides he offered to give you a ride to school."

I was grinning like an idiot, had he really been looking at me? I wiped the smile off my face quickly; I didn't want to get my hopes up. "Ok, maybe I'll ask him," I conceded. I was ready to talk about something else, so I changed the subject. "Hey, I really need to go shopping before school starts back; you want to go with me?"

Alice's eyes lit up. "Hell yeah, after seeing what you have in your closet, you really need my help."

* * *

As Saturday got closer, I got more nervous. I still hadn't asked Edward if he wanted to go. What if he said no? I'd be so embarrassed. But I really did want him to go and the only way that was going to happen was if I asked him. So Thursday evening after dinner, I walked slowly across the street to his house.

He's going to say yes. He's going to say yes. He's going to say yes! I repeated the mantra over and over in my head, the power of positive thinking and all that.

I stopped as I reached his front steps and took a deep breath, giving myself a pep talk. "Don't be stupid, you're only asking him to a party, you're not asking him to run off and marry you," I told myself confidently.

"You do that often?" I heard from right behind me, causing me to squeal and grab onto the railing of the porch in fear. I spun around, my free hand clutching my chest as my heart beat rapidly.

Edward was laughing, holding his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry; I was in the garage when I saw you walk over. I was going to stop you before you got to the door but then I heard you talking to yourself."

"Jesus! You scared the shit out of me," I said, still struggling to catch my breath.

"Sorry, sorry." He apologized through his laughter and we both took a second to calm down before his smile morphed into a smirk. "So, who are you NOT going to ask to run away and marry you?" OH God no! He'd heard me.

"I-I... we-well, umm," I stuttered, struggling to find some excuse to get out of this; I had nothing. "I, well Alice and I, wanted to know if you wanted to come to a back to school party with us on Saturday. Alice suggested it because you're new to town and we just figured this would be a good chance to meet some of the other students." I stared at my feet while I rambled and when I finished he was quiet, so I risked a glance up at him. Edward was watching me, smiling; he was making me nervous. "You don't have to come if you don't want to, we just thought that you might like to." I didn't know what else to say.

"What time?" He finally asked me, putting me out of my silent misery.

"Uhh, I think it's supposed to start around 8pm."

"You want to a ride?" He asked me.

"Oh—umm ok, sure; that sounds great." I said with a small smile, slightly shocked that it had been that easy. What had I been so freaked out about?

Edward and I stood there awkwardly for another moment, staring at each other until I couldn't take it anymore. "Well I guess I'll see you Saturday," I said, starting past him to go home.

He reached out, snagging my wrist to stop me before I left the porch. "Want to go for a walk?" He asked me. Though I'd only been around him a few times, I'd come to realize that Edward always exuded confidence. Even now, he looked so sure of himself on the outside, but as I looked into his eyes I could see flickers of anxiety and nervousness.

"Yeah, that sounds good," I answered, trying to hide my excitement but I couldn't. I couldn't stop the huge grin that spread across my face.

"Cool. I found something the other day when I was exploring and I wanted to show you," he explained, leading me off his porch and starting down the street.  
I was a little disappointed when I let go of my arm and didn't take my hand, or even place his hand on the small of my back to guide me, like I'd ready in so many of my books. We did walk really close together though, and when our arms would bump it was like my skin was on fire and a million butterflies were flying around in my stomach.

"We have to cut through here," Edward said pointing to the house in front of us. I'd been so focused on my proximity to Edward that I had to look up to see where we were at.

"No way," I protested, shaking my head and taking a step back. "I'm not cutting through old man Crosby's yard."

Edward chuckled. "Why not?"

"That man is crazy; he throws things at us if we step on his lawn just a little. He sprayed us with the water hose once because we were goofing around on the sidewalk 'too close to his yard'". I explained, using air quotes. We hadn't even stepped foot on his precious grass the day he soaked us with the water hose, but in old man Crosby's mind we'd simply come too close to ruining his yard. The man loved his yard and, from what I'd seen of him, it was the only thing he loved.

"Come on, he's probably already asleep." Edward said, taking my hand and lightly tugging me toward Crosby's house. Great, now he wants to hold my hand.

"Isn't there another way to get to where ever you want to take me?" I asked. "It's not really that late; he probably watching us right now, just waiting for us to step on his grass." Edward doubled over in laughter. He found this funny because he'd never been on the receiving end but I had. "Look, let's just go around."

Edward closed the distance between us, his breath fanning across my face. "Just follow me; I wouldn't let anything happen to you Bella."

Well damn, when he says things like that how could I resist? I nodded my approval and let him guide me through the forbidden yard. We walked quickly and silently until we reached the wood line behind the house. Edward led me through the thick forest; though I didn't see a path, he seemed to know exactly where he was going.

We had only been walking about 10 minutes when we came to a clearing in the woods. It was small meadow with wild flowers growing everywhere, there was a small stream to the left of us and it was beautiful. I couldn't believe that I'd lived here my whole life and I didn't know something like this was hidden right behind Mr. Crosby's house.

"It's beautiful," I whispered, breath-taken. "How did you find this?"

"I was bored one day and took a walk in the woods behind my house. I was walking for a while before I found this." He shrugged, watching me intently.

"Wait! Are you saying we could have gotten here from behind your house?" I asked, glaring at him.

Edward laughed. "We could have but it would have taken longer. This is the fastest way and since it's getting dark, I thought this way would be better." He explained.

I let go of Edward's hand and walked over to the stream, sitting down and taking my shoes off before sticking my feet in the cool water. Edward sat down next to me, our thighs touching as he mimicked my position.

We sat like that for an hour, just talking and getting to know each other, before we decided that we needed to get back. I didn't want to leave this quiet serene place, or Edward, and I hoped we'd come back sometime soon. The walk back was quiet, I all but ran through old man Crosby's yard.

As we stood on the sidewalk in front my house, the awkwardness came back. I didn't know what to say and I had a feeling he didn't either, so we stood in silence until I got my nerves together. "Well, I guess that I'll see you on Saturday."

"Yeah, see you Saturday. Goodnight Bella."

**A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out. Me and my beta have been so busy with RL. I hope everyone enjoys it and I'm going to try to get the next chapter out a little faster. Let me know what you think. **

**Beta'd by the awesome -K. Hugs!**


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